Chapter 5 - The Barren Well

The heavy snowfall made walking along the narrow mountain path arduous, with steps difficult at every turn.

Worried that Ruan Bai Jie's constitution might not endure, Qiu Shi protected her along the way. Xiao Ke coolly remarked at their side, "My, aren't you two close."

"She's just a girl," Qiu Shi said. "It's only right to take a little more care."

Ruan Bai Jie leaned weakly against Qiu Shi and stole a pitiable glance toward Xiao Ke that elicited no sympathy at all. Xiao Ke simply averted her eyes expressionlessly, appearing quite unimpressed.

At last they arrived at the place for chopping trees. Everyone set to work on two slightly smaller trunks, resolving to finish them in one go today. Though the weather stayed bitterly cold, their bodies grew somewhat feverish after swinging axes for a while. 

Qiu Shi unbuttoned his coat and stood resting. Ruan Bai Jie leaned against a nearby tree, eyes fixed on him pensively.

Catching her stare, Qiu Shi asked, "What are you looking at?"

"Nice ass..." Ruan Bai Jie murmured.

Qiu Shi nearly injured his back with the axe in hand. He whipped around to face her. "What did you say?"

"Oh, nothing," Ruan Bai Jie said. "You must have misheard."

Qiu Shi eyed her doubtfully. 

"Go ahead then," Ruan Bai Jie challenged, "repeat what I just said."

Qiu Shi fell silent. She'd banked on him being too embarrassed alright.

The two chatted while chopping. The men took turns resting and by nightfall the crew felled two trees without further incident. 

Dragging the lumber proved far more hellish than chopping it down.

Though now buried under deep snow, the sight of their two comrades crushed yesterday remained fresh in memory. 

"Let's not carry them," Xiong Qi suggested. "Tie ropes around the logs to drag them instead."

"And who will do the dragging?" Zhang Zishuang asked.

"We split the men into two groups to share the work," Xiong Qi said. 

This seemed fair. If anyone died now, it would come down to fate rather than burdening some unjustly.

Without a word, Qiu Shi took the rope Xiong Qi held and teamed up with another taciturn member. Together they strained to haul the heavy logs along the narrow mountain path. This proved even more difficult than shouldering them, but at least averted accidents like the last.

Mindful of that gruesome precedent, the group remained vigilant until reaching the carpenter's door and finally relaxing.

"Elder," Xiong Qi called, "we've brought the lumber."

The rasping sound of woodwork inside the hut ceased. After a few moments the wrinkled face of an old man peered out before slowly opening the door, beckoning them to bring the wood inside.

"Venerable elder," Xiong Qi said, wiping snowmelt from his face, "we've delivered the timber. Next we plan to visit the temple and pay respects there. Should we bring anything?"

The old man drew deeply on his long pipe, exhaling a thick plume. "Just bring yourselves," he muttered cryptically.

Xiong Qi frowned at this. 

"You must go at night," the elder elaborated. "After dark, enter the temple one by one, pay your respects, then leave." 

Something indiscernible seemed to flicker across Ruan Bai Jie's face at these instructions. Qiu Shi expected her to object, but she said nothing, just smiled faintly instead.

"We have to go in one at a time?" Xiong Qi found this demand somewhat strange. "Can't we enter together?"

The old man scoffed. "You're welcome to try."

Xiong Qi did not inquire further. He turned and prompted the others to take their leave. 

Qiu Shi felt unsettled by the eccentric old man. "Wouldn't the villagers lie to us?" he wondered aloud.

"Some might," Xiong Qi allowed, "but key figures generally won't. If the clues they've given lead nowhere, what point is there to keep struggling?" 

Might as well just give up and die.

Qiu Shi nodded in understanding.

After delivering the lumber, the group returned to their shelter and started a fire to warm themselves while discussing plans. 

Ruan Bai Jie said she needed the toilet and slipped outside. When she didn't return after some time, Qiu Shi grew concerned enough to follow after her. But she wasn't in the outhouse and, after circling the small building, he spotted Ruan Bai Jie sitting alone beside the well.

She seemed to have sat there a while already, judging by the light snow accumulated on her head and clothes. Qiu Shi tentatively called her name but she didn't react at all, not even turning her head.

"Ruan Bai Jie?" Qiu Shi approached her. "What are you doing out here? It's freezing." 

"Don't come closer," she said sharply, nothing like her usual gentle tones. "Stay away from me."

Qiu Shi was taken aback. "What's happened?" He sensed her sudden change in demeanor somehow involved the well she sat beside.

Ruan Bai Jie shook her head wordlessly. 

Emboldened, Qiu Shi drew nearer for a better look inside the well, then instantly regretted it. A chill shivered down his spine at the sight - the well brimmed with black hair writhing slowly.

Ruan Bai Jie's feet seemed entangled in the creepy mass, unable to pull herself free. 

"Don't try to help me, Qiu Shi," she warned. "You'll get dragged down too."

"It's alright," he assured gently. "Don't worry, I'll get you loose." 

Ruan Bai Jie turned to face him with eyes no longer shimmering liquid-soft as before. Now they had hardened into fathomless dark pools that unsettled him somehow. "Why bother?" she asked bleakly.

"Just hold on a minute," Qiu Shi said. "I have an idea." He raced back toward the shelter. 

Seeing Qiu Shi burst in, Xiong Qi asked what was the matter. But Qiu Shi rushed past without explanation, making straight for the kitchen. 

There he grabbed some firewood sticks and hastily lit them using flint before dashing back outside. 

Those brief minutes felt stretched thin as centuries. Qiu Shi's hands shook trying to spark the kindling, terrified of returning to an empty well.

To his relief Ruan Bai Jie still sat there when he returned clutching the makeshift torch. "I'm back," he panted. "When I throw this into the well, grab my hand...and don't let go."

"Aren't you afraid?" Ruan Bai Jie asked.

Qiu Shi looked bewildered. "Afraid of what?" 

"Death, of course," she said.

Qiu Shi laughed softly. "Who isn't afraid of dying? But some things scare me more than death." Though still perplexed by this realm, he knew Ruan Bai Jie had saved him more than once already. Without her intervention that first night, he might have ended up shredded remains like the others.

"Here I come," he warned, edging toward Ruan Bai Jie. Once near enough, Qiu Shi grasped her hand with one of his while pitching the makeshift torch into the roiling hair with the other. 

A piercing shriek echoed from the well, neither male nor female. The burning hair thrashed wildly and for an instant Qiu Shi glimpsed a ghastly pale face in the well. Though only a flash, he recognized the visage of the female spirit who had impersonated Ruan Bai Jie's voice that night indoors.

"Run!" Ruan Bai Jie shouted, the hair around her feet severed. Qiu Shi bolted for shelter half-dragging Ruan Bai Jie alongside.

Inside, they collapsed gasping for breath as the others gawked in bewilderment. "There's something in the well," Qiu Shi panted when he could speak. "It tried to pull Bai Jie down just now. All of you keep clear of that well." 

He turned toward Ruan Bai Jie then, asking if she was hurt.

"I'm fine," she assured him breezily.

Glancing down, Qiu Shi noticed the bloody rings lacerated around her ankles, still seeping. "You call that fine?" he chided. "Sit down now so I can dress your wounds."

Ruan Bai Jie blinked in surprise, as if only just noticing her own injury. But she acquiesced without objection, obediently taking a seat so Qiu Shi could treat her feet rested across his knees. He tended to her gently and meticulously, seeming anxious she might feel pain. 

"Are you always so delicate with girls?" Ruan Bai Jie wondered aloud. 

"What's that got to do with anything?" Qiu Shi retorted casually. "Even if you were some guy, would I handle you roughly?"

"Hmm..." Ruan Bai Jie mused. "Well, I am pretty tall and flat-chested for a girl. Are you sure I'm not a man after all?" But Qiu Shi refused to believe any man could be so beautiful as her. 

"Yours are still bigger than mine," she lamented. "And your butt more shapely too."

Qiu Shi fell silent again, concentrating on his task until finishing up. After warning the others about the well, he helped Ruan Bai Jie to a chair so he could dress her injuries. The rest responded relatively calmly, but Xiong Qi and Xiao Ke looked uneasy - likely remembering the carpenter's cryptic last instruction to fill the well when constructing coffins. 

What connection might coffins have to a well? Some strange local custom or a trap laid by the carpenter?

Ruan Bai Jie seemed to read their thoughts. "No need to fret so much," she said lightly. "Fate goes as fate wills."

Xiong Qi sighed. "We planned to visit the temple tonight. Will you join us?" 

"On this bum ankle?" Ruan Bai Jie nudged Qiu Shi. "Be a lamb and carry me there, won't you please?"

Qiu Shi nodded agreeably. 

"It's just a little sprain," Xiao Ke objected. "How does that stop you walking suddenly?"

Ruan Bai Jie smiled sweetly instead of taking offense. "Oh I know, little sister, but please humor me. I'm such a delicate flower, too pampered at home. Out here I just wilt, you see."

"You'll play up your injury as long as Qiu Shi indulges you," Xiao Ke said bluntly. "Nobody knows anybody here or cares who you were outside. Why baby you?" 

"Oh, I assumed you and Xiong Qi knew each other already," Ruan Bai Jie mentioned lightly.

At this, both Xiao Ke and Xiong Qi reacted sharply, exchanging guarded looks. 

Sensing the sudden tension, Qiu Shi glanced between them in surprise.

"What do you mean by that?" Xiao Ke demanded. 

"Nothing really." Ruan Bai Jie kept her tone sweetly innocent. "Just that you two seem close...but I guess you're not acquainted after all?"

"Of course not," Xiao Ke said tersely, visibly discomfited. 

When Ruan Bai Jie simply smiled instead of pressing the issue, Xiao Ke likewise let the matter drop without further attempts to prevent Qiu Shi carrying Ruan Bai Jie to the temple. She strode off wearing a stormy expression.